996TT Brakes Upgrade

[MaKSiNG]

Hi,

Has anyone done any sort of upgrade to the 996TT brakes? I am not looking for a full on 6-pot upgrade, hopefully just pads. If not then discs and pads.

I just feel with the weight the car is a little underbraked.

Also, does anyone know if the brakes on the 997TT are larger than the 996TT? I mean the caliper itself. I saw a 997TT with a huge red Porsche caliper, which looked like a 6-pot at the Ring this weekend.

[dazren]

996TT steel front discs are 330mm. 997TT steels are 350mm so the discs are bigger. Accordingly I'd assume the calipers are larger on the 997TT.

ref upgrades for the 996TT. are you looking for road driving or track driving? I know "bluesatin" on here runs different pads and uprated brake fluid for road use, not sure of the exact details though.

[cableguy]

dazren said:

996TT steel front discs are 330mm. 997TT steels are 350mm so the discs are bigger. Accordingly I'd assume the calipers are larger on the 997TT.

ref upgrades for the 996TT. are you looking for road driving or track driving? I know "bluesatin" on here runs different pads and uprated brake fluid for road use, not sure of the exact details though.

I'd certainly consider an upgrade to Alcon Discs with GT2 Front 6 Piston Calipers, i'm sure you would find these a marked improvement and more than capable for any fast road and track work.

C.

[dazren]

Agree with the alcons, a few of the VMAX regulars have them, but the OP didn't want a full brake upgrade but was thinking more along the lines of pads and possibly discs.

DAZ

Edited by dazren on Thursday 21st June 15:29

[egbert]

I have pagid yellows and race fluid and it feels a significant improvement over standard.

[996 Turbo]

cableguy said:

I'd certainly consider an upgrade to Alcon Discs with GT2 Front 6 Piston Calipers, i'm sure you would find these a marked improvement and more than capable for any fast road and track work.

C.

Sounds interesting how much? and where from? I wonder if the 997 set-up can just be bolted on?

Steve, 996TT

[etlprws]

No one suggesting PCCB then?

[Wetwipe]

etlprws said:

No one suggesting PCCB then?

[dazren]

Just been looking at the eurocarparts site for front brake discs on an 02 996 turbo. Gives two options, "Genuine" £128.65 and "OEM" £86 all plus VAT (both in stock). I thought Genuine and OEM would be the same thing?

With the pads the options are "Textar" £66.65 and "Genuine" £157.37 all plus Vat (neither in stock). Makes more sense, so are people saying the only difference is the box they come in?

Which options above would be the exact same items I'd get from an OPC?

Picking "genuine" parts (assujming in stock) gives a parts cost for discs and pads of £892.45 inc Vat.

Edited by dazren on Friday 22 June 20:14

[Wetwipe]

dazren said:

Just been looking at the eurocarparts site for front brake discs on an 02 996 turbo. Gives two options, "Genuine" £128.65 and "OEM" £86 all plus VAT (both in stock). I thought Genuine and OEM would be the same thing?

With the pads the options are "Textar" £66.65 and "Genuine" £157.37 all plus Vat (neither in stock). Makes more sense, so are people saying the only difference is the box they come in?

Which options above would be the exact same items I'd get from an OPC?

Picking "genuine" parts (assujming in stock) gives a parts cost for discs and pads of £892.45 inc Vat.

Edited by dazren on Friday 22 June 20:14

as far as I was aware, OEM suggested the items are made to original specification, although that is no guarantee of quality

when it comes to comsumables, i generally try to go for oem rather than genuine as generally the parts are the same

the only area that i will never compromise and always buy genuine is brakes

can remember many years ago buying a set of brake pads from a motor factor for my 2600 rover sdi

their price seemed a little disproportinate to its value (the car had only cost £75) and mention of the price was met with a "ing hell how much" response from my goodself

"they are cheaper than a new front end sir" came the reply. cant argue with that logic.....

[steil]

MaKSiNG said:

I just feel with the weight the car is a little underbraked.

Erm, are you saying that Porsche have foisted a car upon the unsuspecting public which is 'underbraked'? Find it hard to believe - generally tyres make a bigger difference in braking rather than calipers and pads - unless you're using it on track?

[bluesatin]

Pagid blue work fine for me and are a worthwhile improvement

[MaKSiNG]

steil said:

MaKSiNG said:

I just feel with the weight the car is a little underbraked.

Erm, are you saying that Porsche have foisted a car upon the unsuspecting public which is 'underbraked'? Find it hard to believe - generally tyres make a bigger difference in braking rather than calipers and pads - unless you're using it on track?

No I would never suggest that.
Porsche is one manufacturer who really think about their brakes and their brakes are always top notch. This is why I came back to the brand. BMW should take note. With M Cars you buy the car and you immediately have to factor in £2k for a brake upgrade to get the car to stop the way it should.

Someone told me once Porsche engineer the brakes in such a way that their cars stop from a certain speed in half the time the car can accelerate to that speed.

But I have found, I guess mainly due to the mass of the car, under fast road driving conditions that the car is underbraked. This post though comes after 22 laps of the Ring, where it was noticable that I needed to brake earlier and harder than I feel the car could with more stopping power. Although I was trying to keep up with GT3s

While I am at it, the car seems to roll a lot too .... go on, someone say it .... I need a GT3 don't I

[hog 1]

Lot of good, detailed brake discussions took place couple of months ago on 911uk.com forum, don't know if they survived when the site crashed but worth a browse, also 6speedonline.com ran very detailed discussion on different grades of Pagids.
Might be worth posting a wanted ad for PCCB set-up that others have removed to replace with Alcons for track use.
IMHO PCCB cannot be bettered for road use.

[Paulburrell]

Eurocarparts sell Textar pads for your Porsche. They are the company that manufacture the original porsche one's and can be bought for a fraction of the OPC one's. For most uses Textar are more than up to the job. If you venture on track then something more hard core can often help. Pagid Orange or Yellows(RS29) are fantastic but cost a lot, squeal and give best performance when hot.

Eurocarparts discs OEM are made by Zimmerman I believe. I ran a set on my old 968CS for ages and they are every bit as good as the porche items, but again much cheaper. Only difference was cosmetics. After a while the hat part of the disc rusted and didn't look as nice as the Porsche one's that come treated in a heatproof grey paint finish. You can of course buy heatproof matt gey paint in the shops or on ebay for about £5 a can. Alcon upgrades are the mutts nutts but not sure if they do a set for the front of a TT. TT hubs are slightly different from that of a MK1 GT3 and a GT2(something to do with 4WD). If you can get Alcons, then they work much better than original Porsche one's and if used on track last about 5 times as long. Older models used to rattle, no problem just damn annoying on a long drive(guess how I know)

Brake fluid is a fairly inexpensive upgrade that gives more confidence under braking. Many rich boys use Castrol SRF which is supposed to be the best that there is, but again it comes at a heck of a price(£40 + a litre). Personally I have used ATE Super Blue fluid with all my Porsches again from Eurocarparts at about £12 a litre. I use my cars principally for the track and have never ever suffered any sort of brake fade or soft pedal when usng the stuff.

As onother poster said, the original Porsche brakes are amongst the best that you can get. IMHO you only really need to start spending,money in this area if you are planing to do a lot more work on the track.

Regards

Edited by Paulburrell on Saturday 23 June 11:02

[MaKSiNG]

hog 1 said:

Might be worth posting a wanted ad for PCCB set-up that others have removed to replace with Alcons for track use.
IMHO PCCB cannot be bettered for road use.

What is the deal with PCCBs?
There is a problem with them, am I right?
I am not really up on this topic. I heard a while back that Porsche owner who specced them at high expense were unhappy because they wore out and could only be replaced at very high cost. Something like £4k a corner.
Is this the only (all be it quite a big) issue with them or is there something else wrong with them?

Paulburrell said:

As onother poster said, the original Porsche brakes are amongst the best that you can get. IMHO you only really need to start spending,money in this area if you are planing to do a lot more work on the track.

Thanks for that Paul.

I am starting to think Alcons is the only way forward.
Porsche brakes/Brembos really are one of the best in the business.
I was worried about the brakes possibly fading before my trip to the Ring, with the car being so heavy, but I must say I am very surprised, no fade whatsoever and that renowned, confidence inspiring feel was there lap after lap.
My issue was with how early I had to brake to slow the car. I think I just need more braking power, so larger disc and stronger calipers are the only way forward I think.

The reason I asked about the 997TT brakes was that I parked up next to one in the car park and the calipers were huge (red with Porsche emblem) compared to mine. Looked like they could have been 6-pot. Just wondered if this was standard or stock.

[Paulburrell]

I believe the 997TT has 6 pots as standard. I have these fitted to my car and they are indeed awesome. A friend of mine has a 996TT and fitted some RS29 yellows for the track, he found them to be a big improvement. He has alos recently fitted a front brake cooling kit. Trouble is the TT is a relatively heavy beast and I suspect takes some getting used to in order to stop quickly. What about you braking technique? Do you jam them on short and sharp or brake just the same as if you were slowing from high speed as if on the motorway? If the latter then you may need to become a bit more forceful in the braking zone. Grippy tyres also help a huge amount when exercising the brakes, after all they are the only points of contact with the road.